Improvement in ornamented



l. E. PDLLARD.

Urnamented Felt Skirts.

N0,l47,l66 Patented Feb.3.18v74.

NTED STATES ivrnlv'r` OFFICE.

JAMES E. IOLLARD, OF NORFOLK, VMASSAOHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN ORNAMENTEODQVFELT SKIRTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 147,166, dated February3, 1874; application filed September 10, 1873.

To all rwhom t may concern g Beit known that I, JAMES E. POLLARD, ofNorfolk, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Orn amentin g andFinishing Ladies Skirts 5 and I do hereby declare the following` to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it,reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, which form part of thisspecification, in which- Figure l shows a skirt made and ornamented bythis invention, and Fig. 2 a piece of felt fabric ornamented in the samemanner.

Heretofore felt skirts have been ornamented and nished by cutting theskirt from felt cloth, sewing up one seam, and then putting it into anembossing press, and embossing colors upon it. The other seam is thensewed up. This gives a iigured border on the lower portion of the skirt.

My invention consists in making a figured skirt of felt cloth, so as toimitate cassimcre or other expensive clot-11s.

In carrying out my invention, I take felt,

cloth, as made by any of the known methods, and dampen or moisten it,and then pass it between heated calender-rolls, one of which 'at leastis engraved with the design to be impressed upon the surface and fixedupon the cloth. The' rolls may be heatedv by gas, and should be of about2500 to 27 50 Fahrenheit, or about the temperature given to a flat-ironor goose for surfacing cloths.

The felt cloth is run through the machine at such a rate as will x thedesign upon the felt. This operation also serves to compact and hardenthe felt, and gives a firm surface to it. The figure thus impressed andfixed upon the felt skirt or fabric may be made to imitate check,stripe, or other ornamental figure, as desired. The ornamenting andinishin g may be done in the piece, or on each skirt separately.

Instead ofheated calender-rolls, heated plates may be used to producethe same result; but the heated rolls are both more economical and moreeiiective.

Vhen I desire to impart greater boldness and permanence to the figure, Iapply a gum or sizing to thefabric before passing it through thecalenders.

I am aware that woven fabrics of various kinds have been embossed bymeans of heated calender rolls or plates, and alsothat felted goods havebeen ornamented by printing various designs in pigment or ilock colorsupon them. Such process, however, I do not claim, but I am not awarethat felt skirts or fabrics for making the same have ever been embossed,ornamented, and treated in the manner described by me to imitatecassimere or other expensive cloths; and, accordingly,

What I claim as my invention, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is-

As a new article of manufacture, a skirt or skirt fabric made of felt,having its surface or surfaces impressed, embossed, and ornamented withany desired design, and made to resemble cassimere or other expensivewoven cloths and fabrics, in the manner hereinbefore described, by meansof heated engraved rollers, plates,

or equivalent devices, substantially as and for l the purposes setforth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing l have hereunto set my hand thislst day of September, 187 3.

JAMES E. POLLARD.

Witnesses S. MWELD, E. F. WILDER.

